Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Norman L. Cantor
Advance Directives and the Pursuit of Death with Dignity
(Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1993)209 pages
An excellent book on Advance Directives from a legal point of view.
The author is a professor of law, who had a hand in drafting
New Jersey's model legislation for Advance Directives,
which might be the most comprehensive and liberal in the United States.
The book includes criticisms of the limitations
of 'living will' laws in several states and suggests improvements.
Dr. Cantor includes his own Advance Directive,
which focuses mainly on the loss of dignity as the test for deciding
when to withdraw or withhold further life-sustaining measures.
The book also presents some imaginary cases
in which proxies might consider overriding an Advance Directive.
Some other major themes:
(1) autonomy in medical decision-making
for the competent and the incompetent;
(2) proxy's powers to interpret and enforce Advance Directives;
(3) possible problems encountered in making end-of-life decisions
and how to avoid them, for instance,
what to do if a doctor or hospital has principles or policies
that run counter to the requests in an Advance Directive;
(4) deciding for patients who have become mentally confused
and have forgotten their reasons for making their Advance Directives
and now 'decide' that they want to live under diminished circumstances.
This book raises and answers a number of legal questions that
persons writing comprehensive Advance Directives should consider.
If you would like to read my reviews of other books on Advance Directives,
search the Internet for this exact phrase:
"Books on Advance Directives for Medical Care".
James Leonard Park, medical ethicist
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Advance Directives and the Pursuit of Death with Dignity (Medical Ethics)
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